A historian’s visit to Annapolis raises questions

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By Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer This week, TIME features an excerpt from South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation , a new book by Imani Perry, a Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. As part of a journey to imagine what life was like for her enslaved ancestor in Maryland she’d been researching, she visits the state’s capital, Annapolis, and reflects on depictions of enslaved cooks at a local museum as part of the larger struggle to accurately talk about the history of slavery. “When it comes to memory and slavery, there are people who center their concern on the gaps and absences. They dwell on the grief of silences,” Perry writes. “And there are people who every day are fitting puzzle pieces together to find as much truth and detail as possible. Both are essential.” Click here to read the full excerpt. Here’s more history to know:

HISTORY ON TIME.COM Column: How Martin Luther King Jr. Changed His Mind About America By Kermit Roosevelt III Two speeches show how Martin Luther King Jr.'s thinking changed about when America was really born Read More » What the Greek Myths Can Teach Us About Our Moment of Crisis By Charlotte Higgins From the Iliad to Oedipus, the Greek myths are a constant source of insight for today's chaotic and confusing world Read More » The Forgotten History of a British Ship that Fought a Notorious Slaver—and Won By A.E. Rooks The British Royal Navy ship was the scourge of enslavers and proof that the suppression of the slave trade wasn't an impossible mission Read More » ‘A Voice For All Time.’ Songwriter Diane Warren Remembers Ronnie Spector By Diane Warren "Ronnie Spector's voice made pop songs into pop symphonies" Read More » The Gilded Age Brings Downton Abbey to New York—And Mostly Works By Judy Berman If 'Downton' is the greatest story Evelyn Waugh never told, then 'The Gilded Age' kicks off Julian Fellowes' Edith Wharton era Read More »

FROM THE TIME VAULT This week in 1938: Frank Lloyd Wright “About four miles from Spring Green, Wis., the hills splay into two soft ranges to let a fast stream flow toward the Wisconsin River. Facing southwest over this valley a big, long house folds around the summit of one hill, its roof lines parallel to the line of ridges, its masonry the same red-yellow sandstone that crops out in ledges along the stream. Under snow the house melts easily into the landscape. Its name is Taliesin, a Welsh word meaning ‘shining brow.’ Its history is one of tragic irony. Its character is one of extraordinary repose. It is the home of Frank Lloyd Wright, the greatest architect of the 20th Century…The valley in which Architect Wright lives was settled by his Welsh grandfather when it was wild. Wright was born there and grew up on the farm of one of his uncles. His first adventurous piece of architecture was a windmill. He felt and has developed a stronger sense of the earth's reality than most poets. Wright has conceived himself a participant in Nature, not a communicant. ‘Man takes a positive hand in creation,’ he has said, ‘whenever he puts a building upon the earth beneath the sun.’” (Jan. 17, 1938) Read More » This week in 1959: Space race “What is the motive for the push into space? This question gets many sharply conflicting answers. Some military strategists believe that a U.S. rocket base on the moon, which could never be destroyed by surprise attack, would provide the supreme deterrent to any earth aggressor. Most scientists do not agree. Nor do they think much of the idea of armed satellite bases. They see little reason to shoot from a satellite when a rocket shot from solid ground can hit any target on earth. But satellites may prove to have value as ‘eyes in the sky’ over enemy territory. They can also serve as communication relays and act as aids for navigation. But the rivalry with Russia is not a simple propaganda battle. Says one spaceman: ‘We could concentrate entirely on our military developments and let the Russians have space to themselves. Would we thus make ourselves impregnable? No, because the rest of the world simply would not believe that we were impregnable. It would look to Russia as the clear leader—and the battle would be lost before it was fought.’” (Jan. 19, 1959) Read More » This week in 1988: Andrew Lloyd Webber “Sometimes it comes during pauses in conversation, other times in mid-thought. Ever so softly, but frequently and with total absorption, Andrew Lloyd Webber is humming to himself. Few people overhearing him would suspect it, but those barely audible hums are the stuff dream musicals are made of. Out of them, Lloyd Webber, 39, has spun a worldwide empire unmatched in the history of musical theater. With one exception, the ill-starred Jeeves of 1975, Lloyd Webber has scored an unbroken string of triumphs over the past 15 years. His most financially successful show, Cats, has had 19 productions in cities ranging from Budapest to Tokyo to Sydney to Stockholm; eleven of them are still running. Cats has racked up total box-office receipts of more than $425 million. When Lloyd Webber's latest show, The Phantom of the Opera, opens on Broadway the week after next, he will have three hits playing simultaneously in both London and New York City. It is only the second time a composer has ever pulled off such a double hat trick. The first was in 1983, and, of course, it was Lloyd Webber who did it.” (Jan. 18, 1988) Read More »

HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WEB Brazil: The Washington Post’s Terrence McCoy details the history of Valongo Wharf, a Rio de Janeiro port through which millions of enslaved Africans came to the Americas in the 18th and 19th centuries. Obits: The New York Times’ Robert D. McFadden looks back at the life of Charles McGee, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, who passed away on Jan. 16 at 102. Monument watch: The Daily Beast’s Brooke Leigh Howard examines what will happen to the Confederate statues removed in U.S. cities nationwide in recent years, such as plans to exhibit them or melt them into art. Activism: For NBC News, Michela Moscufo reports on the history behind the Japanese Americans supporting Black Americans’ fight for reparations today. Social media: On Twitter, Kathleen Belew, a University of Chicago historian of white supremacy, started a conversation about how historians in different fields would respond to the age-old question “Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?” and got a lot of amusing responses.

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